Food box program a barometer of hard times

<p>The cars line up at the Mary Isaak Center on Hopper Street. They are filled with parents with young children buckled into car seats, single people and older folks.</p><p>They are the people one passes in downtown Petaluma, at PTA meetings, on walks in the park. They are at the center to pick up food boxes filled with bread, yogurt, canned soup and fresh fruit and vegetables. </p><p>The food box program is an essential part of the services provided by the Committee on the Shelterless. It helps low-income families, unemployed people, the working poor and seniors on fixed incomes save money on grocery bills so that they can afford to pay their rent.</p><p>Al Butler was one of the people picking up his food box on a sunny day last week. Butler is 64, a retired union carpenter. He's been part of the food box program for the past six months. </p><p>“It's a godsend,” he says as he secures the box in the back of his small truck. He says, “I am barely squeaking by and this really helps.” </p><p>“The food box program is a barometer,” says Mike Johnson, chief operating officer at COTS. “The more demand for food goes up, the more we know that more people are at risk.”</p><p>Johnson says that according to COTS' records, that demand has increased 37 percent since 2008. Most of the increase occurred in the first year of the financial crisis. Between 2008 and 2009, the food box program grew by 26 percent, 2009-2010 saw a 5.5 percent increase and there has been a 5.5 percent increase since 2010. “That is a huge increase,” he says. “If it keeps growing at that rate, it will become unwieldy very quickly.”</p><p>In addition to the 300 families a week that receive a food box, The Petaluma Kitchen at the Mary Isaak Center also serves three meals a day to 110-140 people free of charge — both people who live at the center and to members of the community. That comes to 127,000 meals annually, a 27 percent increase since 2008.</p><p>Rev. Tim Kellgren, pastor at Elim Lutheran Church in Petaluma, says the need for supplemental food is vital. “The individual interfaith food pantries were serving as many as 80 families a week for a while, then we were down in the 30s and now we are in the 60s,” he says. </p><p>The food pantries are open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and provide bags of groceries to anyone who needs them. Kellgren says, “If someone needs food, they can just show up, write down their name and how many people are in their family and come out with fresh food and staples.”</p><p>According to The California Employment Dev-elopment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sonoma County lost over 20,000 jobs between 2008 and the end of 2010. And even though there was an increase in jobs in the private sector this year with 1,300 added, government jobs disappeared at a faster rate — 2,000 of those jobs were lost over the last year.</p><p>Johnson says that some of the folks hit the hardest in the job market had entry-level jobs and lost their employment. </p><p>“They were on the edge and fell over the edge and they now need supplemental food,” he says. “It is even affecting the middle class, and homelessness has increased from the working poor.” </p><p>Petaluma Bounty, whose mission is to create a sustainable healthy food system in Petaluma, supplies all of the organizations getting food out to needy Petalumans. It also sells fresh produce at a reduced price to people in need at its Bounty Farm. </p><p>Ruth Persselin, programs and outreach director, says that Petaluma Bounty is well aware that there has been an increased need for food from the interfaith pantries and the senior housing sites. In addition to providing food, Petaluma Bounty also helps people learn to grow their own food in backyard gardens and community farming sites.</p><p>Al Butler, the retired carpenter, likes to give back to the community that nourishes him. He is a gardener and donates food from his garden for the Food Box program. “What goes around, comes around. You have to make your own good news,” he says. </p><p>Kellgren thinks that many more people can use some help. He says, “My guess is that there are a lot of people who need us, but they do not know about the food pantries or it is too big a step for them to show up.” </p><p>(Contact Elaine Silver at argus@arguscourier.com)</p>